Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor: He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity].
When we encounter very difficult times that feel devastating, we have the choice to turn to God for help or stay in our misery and distress. The choice sounds simple, but isn’t. As we attempt to look to Jesus for release and deliverance, Satan will fight to keep us down and broken. One of the strategies the enemy uses to attack God’s children with is the three- strikes- you’re -out tactic.
Strike one occurs when Satan hits us with a difficult situation. We confess that this is hard, but we are going to trust the Lord and believe Him to see us through this testing incident.
Strike two hits us when Satan creates an additional distress. We reel from the second blow, even as we attempt to hold on to our faith and trust in God’s ability to work things out in our lives. Our reliance on God is feeling a little wobbly, but we are still holding on, and standing in Faith.
Then the enemy’s overwhelming third blow strikes- a blow designed to crush, break, bruise and leave us downtrodden and feeling helpless. Our mind toys with the idea that God must not love or care about us, because it seems that He is doing, as one negative event after another seems to be ruling our lives. Satan’s main purpose is to keep us disappointed or mad at God, which will cripple us from knowing the Truth of who He is, and His desire for us to experience His love, healing, freedom, rest and peace.
The truth is that Jesus Christ has paid the price in order for us, the poor and needy, to be God’s children. He offers us liberation from spiritual, physical and emotional darkness. The good news is God’s spirit is with us today to release us from the captivity and confusion Satan strives to keep us bound to. God then promises His faithful love will bring us out of the oppressed state- downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity- and bring us to a place of recovery and deliverance. He is faithful and will see us through to victorious days ahead.
As we learn to recognize and understand the tactics of the enemy, we will be given the grace, and spiritual discernment needed to help us through the hard times.